Robert i-iardie



(No Model.)

R. HARDIE. PLUIE PEEssUEE REGULATOR.

No. 553,851'. Patented Eeb. 4, V1896.

(lzeffef: A Y Jzymw UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT HARDIE, OF ROME, ASSIGNOR 'FO THE GENERAL COMPRESSED AIR COMPANY, OF NEY YORK, N. Y.

FLUID-PRESSURE REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,851, dated February 4, 1896. Application led July 16, 1895. YSerial No. 556,134. (No model.)

- Improvements in Fluid-Pressure Regulators;

and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use. the same.

My invention relates to automatic iiuidpressure regulators, and has for its object to provide an improvement therein whereby an increased working pressure may be made temporarily available atthe will of the operator..

My improved regulator was especially designed for use in connection with compressedair street-railway motor-cars. In this class of work there are times when a higher working pressure than normal is temporarily desirable-as, for example', when starting upgrade under a heavy load, or when the car is derailed, or when starting an extraordinary load on a level track.

My invention was especially designed to meet these conditions.

To this end the invention consists of the novel features of construction hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, therein like letters referring to like parts.

Figure l is a sectional elevation through my improved regulator with the parts in position to afford the normal workingr pressure. Fig. 2 is a detail in section, showing some of the parts of Fig. l as they would appear when set for rendering available a higher working pressure.

The main casting a a is of the ordinary or customaryform and of the proper shape to afford the high-pressure chamberh and the lowpressure chamber c, properly separated by the re-entrant part o of the said casting.

. The said part ce of the said casting is provided with the customary valve-seats d for co-operation with the double-seat valve d on the common stem cl2. The stem d2 extends upward and is attached in the customary way to the diaphragm f, which is located in the chamber f', formed by the halfbowl ange a2, integral with the main casting a, and the cap-section a3, bolted to the flange a2. 5 5 The diaphragm f is clamped to the valve-stem by the nuts f2, and between the top member of the said nuts f2 and a loose Washer g on the valve-stem is mounted a spring g', which is set under the desired tension by a follower 6o g2, working through the top of the bowl-cap a3 and bearing against the washerfg.

The part of the diaphragm-chamber f below the diaphragm fis in communication with the main low-pressure chamber c through the passage f3, which renders the under surface of the diaphragm subject to the low-pressure fluid.

The high-pressure chamber o connects by suitable fitting h with the high-pressure sup- 7o ply-pipe b2, which leads to the storage-reservoirs charged with air under high pressure, and the low-pressure chamber c `connects by a suitable iitting c with the low or working pressure pipe c2, which leads to the engine or 7 5 other motor.

The parts so far described are substantially the same as the ordinary standard regulators or reducing valve mechanisms, wherein a spring or equivalent weight operates or tends 8o to throw the reducing-valve into its open position, and a diaphragm or equivalent device subject tothe reduced or working pressure fluid operates against the spring to throw the valve into its closed position when vthe working pressure is at the predetermined desired limit.

I will now describe my improvement. Broadly viewed, I provide a supplemental cylinder h, which is iitted with a piston h', 9o operative on the reducing-valve, and these parts are so arranged that one end of the supplemental cylinder is constantly open to the Vlow or working pressure iiuid, and the other end of said cylinder is provided with valve connections adapted to throw the same either into communication with the workingpressure fluid .or the atmosphere at will.

As shown, the supplemental cylinder h is in the form of a lower end cap for the valve roo casing or casting a a,with its upper end opening directly into the low-pressnre chamber c,

and the piston 7i', with which the said cylininder 7L is fitted, is attached directly to the lower end of the stem cl2 of the reducingvalve. The valve connections for the lower end of the cylinder 7L are shown as comprising the pipe -sections k 7a', connecting with the valve-casing L2, which is provided with an outlet 7e3, leading to the atmosphere, and a valve-stem 7a4 in said casing having a twoway passage 71:5 and hand-lever k6.

The two-way passage 7x35 in the valve-stem la* may, of course, be made to connect either the parts k and 71; or the parts 7c, and 7e3. If the said parts 7i: 7d are connected, as when the valve-stem 7a4 is in the position shown in Fig. l, the piston 7L will be subject on both sides to the working-pressure iiuid; but if the valve-stem 7s* be turned into the position shown in Fig. 2, so as to connect the parts k and 7a3, the working-pressure iiuid will be out off from the lower end of the cylinder h, and the lower end of the said cylinder h will be open to the atmosphere.

XVhen the parts are as shown in Fig. l, the regulator will operate exactly as if the supplemental cylinder 7L and its eo-operating parts had not been provided, because the pressures above and below the piston 7L will be the same; but when the hand-valve is thrown into the position shown in Fig. 2, so as to open the lower end of the cylinder h to the atmosphere, the working-pressure fluid on the top of the piston 72, will become available to reinforce the spring g' and co-operate therewith to hold the reducing-valve open until the necessary increased pressure is reached on the working side to render the diaphragm f effective to close the valve.

The hand-valve 7a4 will of course occupy such a position on the motor-car as to be conveniently within reach of the inotorman or operator. Hence, in virtue of my supplemental cylinder and piston and the valve connections therefrom, as described, an increased working pressure can be rendered temporarily available at the will of the inotorman or operator for use whenever desired to meet the conditions of an extraordinary lift or pull on the motor. In other words, it renders the motor equal to the temporary emergency of an extraordinary load.

Of course it will be understood that the supplemental cylinder 71, and piston 7L', with the valve connections thereto, might be differently located and differently connected up, as long as the said parts operate in substantially the same way to accomplish substantially the same result.

I have described my improved regulator as especially designed for use in connection with compressed-air motors; but it will be understood, of course, that the same is capable of general application for all kinds of fluids to which regulators are generally applied.

IVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

l. In an automatic Huid-pressure regulator, the combination with the high and low pressure chambers,reducing-valve and diaphragm, of a supplemental cylinder fitted with a piston operative on said valve, with one end of the said cylinder always open to the low-pressure iiuid, and the other end thereof provided with valved connections operative to open the saine either to the said low-pressure iiuid or to the atmosphere, at will, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a fluid-pressure regulator, the combination with the high and lonT pressure chainbers, the reducing-valve and the diaphragm, of the casing-cap cylinder 71, fitted with the piston 7i iixed to the lower end of the reducing-valve stem, with the upper end of the said cylinder open to the low-pressure chamber, and the valved pipe connections from the lower end of the said cylinder, comprising the pipe-sections 7c k united by the hand-valve casing 7a2, having the outlet 7a3 to the atmosphere, and the hand-valve 7a4 in said casingkz, provided with the two-way passage p, all arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT HARDIE.

lVitnesses z A. E. OsBoRNE, JOHN ACKER. 

